“I hate my job.” Do you know who says that? People who hate their jobs.

“I’ll never succeed.” You know who says that? People who never succeed.

“My best years are behind me.” You know who says that? People who have only memories of the good ol’ days and nothing to look forward to.

Are these people speaking the truth or are they creating truth with their words?

“Life is a gift!” You know who says that? People who appreciate and find joy in all that God has provided for them.

“This is going to make a difference.” Do you know who says that? People who don’t give up but keep on trying until the vision is fulfilled.

“The best is yet to come!” You know who says that? People who live life with an abundance mindset, filled with hope, experiencing amazing things.

Are these people speaking the truth or are they creating truth with their words?

In the Bible, James 3:3-5a says, “We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong.”

In this passage, the author is making a comparison between a rudder (and a bit) and our tongues. It’s all about the power of the words we speak. The words we speak move our lives in either a positive, prosperous direction or a declining, joyless direction.

Neuroscientists have just started studying the power of words and have discovered that they can affect our health, our mood, and our relationships. Of course, God knew this all along. And they can affect a whole lot more than that!

The problem is that we tend to let our current negative emotional state dictate what we say about our future circumstances. This is deadly! When we start doing that, we need to stop talking, take a deep breath, and start speaking life into our lives.

I’m not talking about pie in the sky fantasy talk either. If you didn’t work hard enough, admit it. If you experienced a setback, it’s okay to say it. But a missed expectation today does not have to equal a miserable tomorrow.

It’s a healthy response to say that you’re going to achieve your health goals (even if you’ve missed the mark). It’s a good thing to say that your ideas are going to succeed (even when they’ve fallen flat in the past). Go ahead and confess that some amazing days are ahead of you (even if you can’t remember the last time you had one).

Our words are powerful and can steer the course of our lives so let’s start speaking our lives into a successful, happy direction.

When God created the world, He spoke it into existence. Maybe it’s time we take a cue from Him and start creating the world we desire with our words.